Table · dataset · 2026
ROSAT Hard-Spectrum X-Ray Source Catalog
Listed in IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory)
This table contains a catalog of 147 serendipitous X-ray sources selected to have hard spectra (spectral indices Alpha < 0.5) from a survey of 188 ROSAT fields.
Description
Such sources must be the dominant contributors to the X-ray background at faint fluxes. The authors have used Monte Carlo simulations to verify that their technique is very efficient at selecting hard sources: the survey has >= 10 times as much effective area for hard sources as it has for soft sources above a 0.5 - 2 keV flux level of 10<sup>-14</sup> erg cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>.
The distribution of best-fitting spectral slopes of the hard sources suggests that a typical ROSAT hard source in this survey has a spectral slope Alpha ~ 0. The hard sources have a steep number-flux relation (dN/dS ~ _S<sup>-Gamma</sup>, with a best-fitting value of Gamma = 2.72 +/- 0.12), and make up about 15% of all 0.5 - 2 keV sources with S > 10<sup>-14</sup> erg cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>.
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If their N(S) continues to fainter fluxes, the hard sources will comprise ~ 40% of sources with 5 x 10<sup>-15</sup> < S < 10<sup>-14</sup> erg cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>. The population of hard sources can therefore account for the harder average spectra of ROSAT sources with S < 10<sup>-14</sup>erg cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>.
They probably make a strong contribution to the X-ray background at faint fluxes and could be the solution to the X-ray background spectral paradox. This table was created by the HEASARC in March 2012 based on <a href="cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/MNRAS/318/1073">CDS Catalog J/MNRAS/318/1073</a> file table2.dat, the ROSAT hard X-ray source catalog. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .
Links
Where it is published
- Reference page heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/W3Browse/all/rosathard.html ↗
landing page · from IVOA Registry
Catalogue records · 2
- VOResource record dc.g-vo.org/oai.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=ivo_vor&identifier=ivo%3… ↗
metadata API · from IVOA Registry
- Registry record (GAVO) dc.g-vo.org/I/nasa.heasarc/rosathard ↗
catalogue entry · from IVOA Registry
Topics
- Stated by source
- X-Ray
- From keywords
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Inferred from text
- Tabular 65%
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| IVOA Registry (Virtual Observatory) | ivo://nasa.heasarc/rosathard | 14 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:astronomy | mapping · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].ivoa_waveband:x-ray | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].local:modality:tabular | enrichment · IVOA Registry | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (65%) |
| description | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_description |
| publication_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 | rr.resource.res_title |
| updated_date | source · IVOA Registry | connector:ivoa_registry@1.0.0 |